Scams is the in-thing and an ongoing trend in Singapore and around the world.
As such, Singapore has a scamalert website to keep you infomred of the latest in the trend and the most 'in' scams in Singapore. Be updated and be scam savvy.

SINGAPORE — If you receive a letter that appears to be from the police and signed by a certain “INSP Wong Ka Wei, Senior Investigation Officer, Central Police Division”, ignore it — it’s fake.

The police issued an advisory on Saturday (Dec 17) following reports lodged by members of the public who have received such letters.

The fake police letters asked recipients to report at Central Police Division on Dec 20, 2016 to assist in investigations into “an offence of Public Nuisance committed at Cantonment Police Division on 28 November 2016”.

"These letters were not issued by the Police. There is no Cantonment Police Division within the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and there is also no officer by the name of INSP Wong Ka Wei from Central Police Division, “ said the police.

Another step is being taken to raise awareness of scams among residents as the winning murals in a competition are printed and put up on walls at various locations around Sembawang.

The wall mural competition in Sembawang began in November and ended last month.

“This is one way of engaging the residents and increasing their awareness. Police have identified a new trend on e-scams,” said grassroots adviser and Member of Parliament (Sembawang) Lim Wee Kiak.

“I think there’s been an increase in the number of reports on e-scams. On one hand, I think they (the winners) will be happy to see their work being displayed. On the other hand, it also plays a role in maintaining our community security.”

The top three winning designs will be displayed from today at 10 locations around the constituency. Contestants, who had to be Sembawang residents, came up with designs advocating the message of scam prevention.

One of the top three winning designs was one done by three friends, Ms Chua Jia Yin, 24, Ms Chua Min Fang, 26, and Ms Felicia Liew, 24. They took three days to finish the piece.

“We participated because we liked the idea that when people see the artwork, it can remind them to stay vigilant. Normally, people tend to remember pictures more than just words,” said Ms Chua.

The murals were launched yesterday in conjunction with an Edusave Award presentation ceremony in Sembawang.

A DBS bank officer sensed something was amiss when a woman went to its HarbourFront Centre branch last year to transfer US$1,670 (S$2,400) to a personal account in Thailand. Senior customer service executive Kelvin Low found out that the customer did not speak Thai and had never lived in Thailand.

He told assistant customer service manager Alyssa Low about his suspicions.

The woman told Ms Low that the amount was a "service fee" for a monetary transaction.

Thanks to the DBS officers, she soon realised that she had been duped and informed the police.

The duo were among 42 people from 14 organisations who were recognised with awards from the Commercial Affairs Department on Wednesday. They had helped prevent victims from falling prey to scams involving more than a million dollars last year.

Other organisations whose staff received certificates of appreciation at the Police Cantonment Complex include Maybank, UOB and remittance company Hanshan Money Express.....

SINGAPORE — For every 10 individuals who checked out Brilliant Ingots’ gold investment scheme online, one took the bait for its promises of 24 per cent annual returns and 2 per cent commission for every referral, among other attractive offers.

Thankfully, for the 600 unsuspecting visitors — out of close to 6,000 who visited the website — they were told only to indicate the amount they were willing to part with before the “golden opportunity” was unveiled to be part of an atypical campaign to raise awareness of investment scams and was not real.

After being told that they have been “scammed”, common tell-tale signs of such rackets will be highlighted to them. These include attractive but unverified returns, companies that claim to be well-established, and pressure tactics such as limited time offers.

Prospective investors are advised to approach these claims with “healthy scepticism” and assess investment opportunities based on known facts and information that can be verified.

Brilliant Ingots Investments is the second of two “investment scams” dreamt up by the Securities Investors Association and national financial education programme MoneySENSE. It was advertised on various print media and online platforms from April 16 to 25.....

SINGAPORE — Warning the public of a fresh round of scam emails, the Singapore Customs urged the public not to fall for correspondences from impostors acting as customs officials to demand for confidential personal information or money.

In a public advisory issued on Sunday (May 7), the Singapore Customs clarified that the emails were not issued by their officers.

SINGAPORE: The police are warning the public about a fake Singapore Police Force (SPF) website through which victims are tricked into providing confidential information such as credit card details.

In an advisory on Friday (Jun 2), the police said victims typically receive calls from scammers claiming that they have excessively large amounts of money in their bank accounts, and are suspected of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.

SINGAPORE – Pop-up messages that claim your computer has been infected with a virus or that your information has been leaked could likely be a scam, police warned.

Since January this year, more than 20 police reports have been lodged of unauthorised charges to their credit cards, after the victims provided their card details thinking they were buying software for the fake virus....

SINGAPORE – Pop-up messages that claim your computer has been infected with a virus or that your information has been leaked could likely be a scam, police warned.

Since January this year, more than 20 police reports have been lodged of unauthorised charges to their credit cards, after the victims provided their card details thinking they were buying software for the fake virus....

SINGAPORE: There's been an erroneous text message going around, prompting national servicemen (NSmen) to apply for the commemorative NS50 PAssion Card, but the card provider clarified on Friday (Jun 9) that it did not send the SMS.

The message claimed that the card comes with a S$50 stored value, and NSmen were asked to SMS their identity card number in order to receive their card.....

SINGAPORE: More than 40 people have been duped in a scam involving online payments system PayPal, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Tuesday (Jun 13).

Since January, police said victims of this scam have lost at least S$43,000.

The victims had posted items for sale online, and were contacted by scammers posing as interested buyers, the police said. The scammers would then send fake emails purportedly from PayPal or reputable banks – designed to deceive the victims into believing they had been paid.....

SINGAPORE: The police on Tuesday (Jul 4) reminded members of the public to be careful when buying concert tickets that are re-sold online, as there have been "numerous reports" of online purchase scams over the past two years.

The advisory comes as several concerts have been lined up for the second half of the year. Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Foo Fighters and Show Luo are among the international and regional acts coming to Singapore.